Mad Solutions and IRTH Form Strategic Partnership to Develop and Distribute Arab Entertainment Content
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Further details have emerged on the strategic partnership between Cairo-based MAD Solutions and pan-Arab drama company IRTH, first announced at the Venice Film Festival, clarifying the scope and structure of the tie-up. The deal will see the two firms jointly develop original films, television series and other formats, including projects built around talent represented by MAD Celebrity, while also offering development support to third-party producers, ranging from early-stage writing and creative consultancy to script doctoring for regional and international markets.
IRTH, founded by bestselling author and screenwriter Haitham Dabbour, specialises in developing film, TV and stage drama in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while MAD Solutions, set up in 2010 by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, brings distribution, sales, talent management and marketing expertise. Executives from both sides said the partnership would let them originate projects from scratch and bring talent into the creative process earlier, with the first joint projects to be announced separately. The news coincides with MAD's wider Venice presence this year, including acting as sales agent for Giornate degli Autori title Al Baraneya, involvement in Conversations with the Sea, and presenting its annual award at Final Cut in Venice for the 12th year running.
- MAD Solutions and IRTH detail scope of new Arab drama partnership
- Deal covers original projects and third-party script development support
- Coincides with MAD's broader activity at Venice Film Festival 2026
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Mad Solutions is a media company based in Cairo that has worked in the Arab film and television industry since 2010, offering services such as distribution, sales, marketing and talent management. IRTH is a drama production company operating across the Arab world, founded by author and screenwriter Haitham Dabbour, and known for developing television, film and stage projects mainly in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The two companies have agreed to work together on producing and distributing entertainment content aimed at Arab audiences, combining IRTH's experience in developing drama with Mad Solutions' networks for getting finished projects to audiences and markets. This kind of tie-up matters because the Arab entertainment industry has been growing and drawing more international attention, and partnerships like this can shape which stories get made, who gets to tell them, and how easily they reach viewers both regionally and abroad.
Full account
Cairo-headquartered pan-Arab distribution and talent group Mad Solutions has entered into a strategic partnership with IRTH, the Arab drama development venture led by Egyptian author and screenwriter Haitham Dabbour. The two organisations said they would combine forces to develop, package and support film, television and other entertainment projects originating from across the Arab world, with an eye on both regional and international markets. Mad Solutions, founded in 2010 by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, has built its reputation on marketing and distributing Arab cinema and, more recently, on international sales, talent representation and production; IRTH brings a network of writers and a dedicated development operation spanning film, television drama and theatre.
Under the arrangement, the two firms intend to originate new film and television projects together, including some built around performers represented by Mad's talent-management arm, Mad Celebrity, while also taking on development and consultancy work for outside producers — ranging from early-stage writing support to script doctoring and preparing material for wider distribution. Both parties described the tie-up as complementary: IRTH supplies creative infrastructure and writing talent, while Mad contributes its distribution, sales, production and public-relations reach across the region and beyond. Specific projects arising from the collaboration have yet to be named, with the companies indicating that announcements will follow in due course.
In quoted comments, Dabbour framed IRTH's mission as bringing together strong and varied Arab voices and giving their ideas room to develop, adding that Mad's networks would help push that work further afield. Karkouti and Diab, in turn, presented the partnership as central to Mad's broader expansion into development, pairing IRTH's creative infrastructure with the ability to both generate original projects and bolster existing ones for outside filmmakers. Mad Celebrity's executive director was also quoted describing the deal as a way to involve represented talent earlier in the creative process, rather than simply seeking placements for them once projects already exist.
Dabbour is known as a bestselling novelist — his books include Devoured by Seven Lean Cows and Moses Cross — as well as a screenwriter behind the El Gouna Film Festival award-winner Gunshot and The Tale of Ahl El Daye, which had its European premiere in the Berlinale's Generation strand. One account of the announcement placed it firmly in the context of the Venice Film Festival, noting it came as Mad Solutions had a notable presence on the Lido this year with two titles screening — the Egyptian family drama Al Baraneya and the Palestinian feature Conversations with the Sea — alongside Mad's presentation of an award at the festival's Final Cut development platform for African and Arab cinema.
Where outlets differ
One report ties the announcement specifically to the Venice Film Festival (made on a Saturday during the festival) and links it to Mad's wider Lido presence, including two films screening there and an award presented at the Final Cut in Venice platform; the other report makes no mention of Venice or these festival activities at all.
The two accounts characterise IRTH somewhat differently: one describes it as a platform centred on a collaborative writers' room that was formally launched at the 2025 Red Sea International Film Festival, bringing together writers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere; the other describes IRTH more broadly as an established pan-Arab drama development and production company covering film, TV series and theatre in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, without referencing the Red Sea launch.
Only one report includes a quote from Kareem Samy, executive director of Mad Celebrity, emphasising that the partnership lets Mad involve its talent in project creation earlier rather than only seeking opportunities for them after the fact.
The Karkouti/Diab quote is fuller in one report, explicitly noting the aim of both originating new projects and strengthening existing ones for other filmmakers, while the other version of the quote is truncated in the available material.
Coverage
- Variety — Mad Solutions and Haitham Dabbour’s Irth Platform Announce Strategic Pan-Arab Content Partnership in Venice
- Deadline — MAD Solutions & IRTH Strike Pan-Arab Development & Production Strategic Partnership – Venice